DR often wonders what the state of the sport would be without the contribution of Knights Chess Club.
To answer the question honestly, the popular mind game would suffer an almost crippling blow as Knights is not only the most venerable and reputable chess club in T&T but, most vitally, it also presents two of the oldest and most popular annual open tournaments in the country. The second of them, the 23-year-old DeVerteuil Memorial, begins today at the RHAND Credit Union head office in Port-of-Spain and is expected again to attract a majority participation. Last year's tournament, for example, drew a record of 60 players including a notable percentage of aspiring youngsters.
The two Knights tournaments, in fact, are now serving an important strategic function in the sport as they provide open competitive opportunities for a growing number of young chess enthusiasts.
The DeVerteuil Memorial was launched by the late Knights president Lucio Araujo who has become something of a legend for his enlightened leadership and his progressive innovations. Araujo saw the need to honour veteran chess player Faustin DeVerteuil affectionately dubbed "the grand old man of chess" not only for his longevity and prominence as a player but, more deservedly, for his paternal readiness to assist young players in improving their game.
Devi, as he was affectionately called, demonstrated his love for the sport by inviting promising youngsters to his Woodbrook home for an evening of chess when he would also impart to them the benefit of his long and impressive experience in the sport. Araujo, an ex-St Mary's boy and UWI lecturer in engineering, was one of Devi's chess "students" who later expressed his appreciation by immortalising the memory of "the grand old man."
Later, during his presidency of Knights, Araujo also advanced the cause of chess by introducing a number of firsts, including money prizes in the club's two open tournaments and a system for the rating of club members even before the FIDE method was introduced. The DeVerteuil Memorial gained instant popularity as it attracted the country's best players. Fittingly enough, its first winner in 1994 was Cristo Cave whose amazing record of 13 national championship titles seems unlikely to be equalled. Over the years, the stature of the DeVerteuil Memorial came to equal that of the Knights Open as the list of its winners reflected many of the country's best. Cave went on to win the tournament two more times. Other firsts included Kishore Ramadar, Cesar Ramos (twice), FM Ryan Harper (three times), FM Mario Merritt (three times), Curtis Chong, John Raphael, Yogi Ramsingh, David Christopher, FM Frank Yee, Ravishen Singh, Sean Perimon (twice), Joshua Johnson and Adrian Winter Atwell.
The prevailing energy of Knights Chess Club can be credited to members of its dedicated executive headed by retired Ambassador Louis Wiltshire, assisted by experienced officers Clayton Gomez and John Everon.
DR, however, finds it somewhat disturbing that a younger generation of potential leaders is yet to appear among the club's membership to ensure its long term prominence and virility. At least, the chess community should have learned the lesson of the RVI, once the most formidable chess club in the country, which simply disappeared from the scene when its leaders inevitably passed away.
While the sport is growing among the country's youth, its organisational and competitive life is not as assured as it should be.